Seattle didn’t just survive on Wednesday. That uncertain side we saw close out the season? The one whose rebound from their precipitous fall sill left them skittish against Portland, Dallas, and Los Angeles? The Sounders left them in Tukwila, instead giving their best performance since defeating Real Salt Lake in September. In beating Colorado 2-0, the Sounders took a huge step toward realizing their immense potential.

Seattle was the better team from the opening kickoff, generating a chance within three minutes when a reorganized Rapids defense got too narrow, leaving room in the left of the area for Adam Moffat to fire off an uncontested shot. Shane O’Neill, normally a central defender, had been given the surprise assignment at right back, but as Seattle moved inside-out, the 20-year-old was caught inside. Clint Irwin’s punch on Moffat’s shot kept the match scoreless.

The Sounders had another huge chance in the 13th minute when Moffat popped up in the right side of the box and beat Irwin from a sharp angle. Drew Moor, however, had dropped back to the line to block the shot, the ensuing rebound barely eluding Lamar Neagle before being cleared.

Controlling the midfield, Seattle was preventing Colorado’s holding pair (Hendry Thomas, Nathan Sturgis) from connecting with attacking midfielder Martín Rivero. With the game staying in the middle of the park, the Rapids couldn’t use their speed out wide. At the same time, Clint Dempsey was taking advantage of a slow start from Colorado’s holders, managing the game with his distribution high in midfield. With Eddie Johnson’s movement into wide areas opening up the defense (as Lamar Neagle probed), the first half-hour was all Seattle.

In the 28th minute, the hosts’ play paid off. Again moving from right-to-left through the midfield, Dempsey found Johnson outside the penalty area before the ball went wide to an oncoming Leo González. The Sounders left back hit a cross into penalty area chaos, but when the clearance went to an abandoned Brad Evans in the right of the area, the U.S. international chest-trapped and shot into the far side of goal, putting Seattle up 1-0.

Clint Dempsey has his most influential game as a Sounder, his distribution at the top of midfield playing a part in the team’s opening goal. (Photo: AP Photo.)

When the game resumed Seattle was without right back DeAndre Yedlin, the rookie having turned his ankle just before halftime. They were also without the same level of control they exerted over the first 30 minutes, Colorado’s intensity having picked up with the second half whistle. Going forward, however, the Rapids were still having trouble connecting, with the half’s best early chance coming when a Seattle substitute Marc Burch’s direct kick nailed Irwin’s crossbar.

Once Colorado brought Vicente Sanchez on for Rivero, the Rapids started generating chances, most notably down their left, opposite Evans at right back. Chris Klute was starting to come into the game from left back, and Deshorn Brown was getting opportunities to use his speed against the slower Evans. In the 56th minute, Brown went close (but over) with a shot from just outside the box.

But Colorado’s ascendency proved benign and short-lived, and after a few minutes on the back foot, Seattle adjusted. When they weren’t outright stopping Colorado’s approaches they were still poised for counter attacks. Osvaldo Alonso, strong all night at the base of midfield, was bursting out of his deep-sitting role to try and help Johnson, Neagle, and Dempsey find a match-sealing goal.

That dynamic persisted until near the end of regulation, when Seattle lost their starting goalkeeper. Michael Gspurning, under no pressure on a ball kicked long toward his area, came two yards out of his box to catch the bouncer. After a collision with the late arriving Edson Buddle, Gspurning was shown a straight red card, having intentionally handled a ball outside his area.

It wasn’t long, however, until the 10-man Sounders put the match away. In the 93rd minute, Eddie Johnson got behind the Rapids defense and went in alone on Clint Irwin. As the Colorado keeper came off his line, Johnson put his right-footed shot inside the right post, giving Seattle some needed insurance.

Despite the late drama, Seattle gave their most impressive performance since September, and while a particularly aimless Colorado played a part in their dominance, the Sounders deserve their share of credit, too. With strong performances from Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey supported by a stalwart midfield. the Sounders were never truly challenged. Convincing in their control, Seattle have earned their place in the West’s final four.

HOUSTON (AP) Stanford got off to a rough start this year, but rebounded in a season where everyone wanted to take the Cardinal down to make it back to the College Cup.

After winning the first national championship in program history last season, No. 5 Stanford continues its title defense in the second semifinal on Friday night against No. 9 North Carolinas. In the first semifinal, No. 2 Wake Forest faces undefeated No. 6 Denver.

Stanford had with three ties and a loss in its first six games before winning 13 of its next 16 games to win a third straight Pac-12 championship and return to the College Cup.

“I think it was kind of a wakeup call seeing how hard we were going to get played and I think we adapted to that as the season progressed,” said defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce, who was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last month.

Stanford hopes to become the first team since Indiana in 2003-04 to win consecutive national championships. Coach Jeremy Gunn’s team is the first to return to the College Cup the season after winning the national championship since Wake Forest returned in 2008 after winning it all in 2007.

Stanford lost some key players from last season, including MLS Rookie of the Year and the reigning Hermann Trophy winner Jordan Morris. But it returns six starters from last season’s team. Five of those players were named to the All-Pac-12 first team last month, and one was on the second team.

“We had some great players leave after last year and I think some people wanted to write us off this year,” Gunn said.

Stanford is led by Co-Pac-12 player of the year Foster Langsdorf. The junior forward has led the team’s attack this season, scoring 15 goals, including one in each of Stanford’s three tournament games. In their 10 Pac-12 games, Langsdorf scored 12 goals.

North Carolina comes to Houston for its first College Cup appearance since winning a national championship in 2011. The Tar Heels also reached the national semifinals in 2009-10.

Some things to know about the College Cup.

H-TOWN CONNECTION: The Tar Heels come to Houston with many connections to the area. Three Houston Dynamo players, defenders Jalil Anibaba and Sheanon Williams and goalkeeper Tyler Deric, played at North Carolina, while head coach Carlos Somoano is from nearby Seabrook, Texas. The Tar Heels leading scorer, Tucker Hume, said players from the Dynamo have reached out to them and that they’ll be at Friday’s game.

“My formative soccer years and experiences were done right here in Houston,” Somoano said. “So for me it’s very special to be back here.”

YOUTH MOVEMENT: After losing key players from last season, including three who were selected in the top 12 of the MLS SuperDraft, North Carolina has had to rely on its youth in 2016. The Tar Heels have 12 players who have appeared in all 20 games this season, six of whom are either freshmen or sophomores. Sophomore forward Nils Bruening leads the team in goals with eight, while redshirt sophomore goalkeeper James Pyle has allowed just 10 goals this season.

“They’ve been a bit of a revelation for us,” Somoano said. “It’s just fascinating to see how they evolve through the year. They’re not the same players now than they were in August.”

FAMILIAR FACES: Denver head coach Jamie Franks and Wake Forest’s Bobby Muuss have plenty of history. Muuss was an assistant coach for the Demon Deacons during Franks’ freshman season in Winston-Salem and was the coach at Denver from 2007-14, with Franks serving as his assistant for three seasons. When Muuss took over at Wake Forest before the 2015 season, Franks took his place at Denver.

“I love Wake Forest . but at the end of the day, these are my boys,” Franks said. “These are my kids, and Wake Forest is standing in our way.

WAKE EYES REDEMPTION: Last season, Wake Forest was the No. 1 team in the country with a 17-2-2 record before falling in the quarterfinals to the eventual national champions Stanford in overtime. This season, the Demon Deacons enter the College Cup with an 18-2-3 mark with a pair of shutouts in wins over Coastal Carolina and Virginia Tech.

DOMINANCE REWARDED: Since Franks took over as the Denver head coach, the Pioneers have lost just one game, a defeat to SMU that ended the 2015 season. The team feels its 35-1-6 record under Franks it has not received enough credit, mostly because the Pioneers play in the Summit League. This is Denver’s first appearance in the College Cup and the players are embracing their underdog role.

“It’s more a historical thing than an actual thing because no one in our locker room is surprised to be here, we expected to be here,” sophomore forward Andre Shinyashiki said.

LONDON (AP) Police overseeing the sex abuse scandal in British soccer say 83 potential suspects have been identified and linked to 98 clubs.

Officers across the country are sifting through 639 referrals received by both police and a helpline established last month when former players started going public to say they were abused by coaches while in youth teams.